Sleepwalker Wolf

Big News

Travis

Val lays back on the bed as Mom snaps on a pair of latex gloves. Eve looks nervous, but there's still a glitter of excitement in her eyes. She's been shadowing Mom for a while, but this is the first time she's getting to care for someone she knows while Mom delivered most of our cousins.

            "Okay, lay back and lift up your shirt," Mom instructs in her work voice. She only ever sounds like that around pregnant women. It's weird to hear when she's talking to Val.

            The leather on the bed squeaks as Val maneuvers her legs up onto it. When she pulls her shirt up under her breasts, I see the bump again and I get that mixture of awe, love, and panic. That's our baby in there and seeing it is just as fantastic as I thought it would be. Val has never looked more beautiful, but there could be something fatally wrong with the baby and I don't know if we could survive something happening. I'm almost certain Val couldn't.

            Mom tries to hide her shock at just how obvious the bump is, but I can still see it flash in her eyes. She cools it into her midwife mask quickly and, thankfully, Val doesn't seem to have picked up on it.

            "Alright, sweetheart, this is going to be a little cool. While I get the ultrasound started, Eve's going to take your blood pressure."

            Rubbing the wand on Val's stomach, Mom watches the ultrasound screen. Eve goes about her business, but my undivided attention resides on the little screen. It's all grey for a moment before some vague shapes show up. I know that's not what it's supposed to look like. There's too many.

            "Well, that explains a lot. Looks like you're having triplets."

            Val's white as a sheet as she stares at the screen. I expect to panic at the prospect of three babies at the same time, but all I feel is elation. Having a big family has always been my dream and I'm getting it in one fell swoop.

Love lights up in my chest at the sight of those three little bean shapes with beating hearts. Mom explains exactly what we're seeing with all the technical terms while measuring each baby, but the words go in one ear and out the other. Those are my babies. Holy shit, I'm gonna be a dad.

"They have strong heartbeats and all look perfectly healthy. Everything's developing like it should. We'll need to keep having regular ultrasounds because of how risky a pregnancy with multiples is. Luckily, I've had my own multiple pregnancy, so I have firsthand experience on problems we might encounter."

Finally, Val finds her voice.

"I'm gonna be sick."

Eve grabs a trashcan from under the sink and holds it beside the bed so Val can roll onto her side. After she loses the contents of her stomach, some color has returned to her cheeks, and she flops onto her back. She looks to be having an existential crisis of some kind which makes me realize she may not be as excited as I am.

"You okay, sweetness?"

"No! I barely came to terms with one baby, but suddenly there's three of them! Am I supposed to be okay?"

I lean down over her and move some hair off her forehead. "Hey, it's gonna be okay. You can do this. It's just more to love."

"How are you okay with this?! Wait, I know, you're not the one that has to fucking carry them around for nine damn months!" Val starts smacking my arm. "How dare you look so pleased with yourself!"

"Hey, this isn't my fault."

"It probably isn't, but I'm going to blame you anyway! When these babies are out of me, you aren't touching me without a condom for the rest of your life!"